Suction cleaners



March 8, 1966 D. T. KURLINSKIY SUCTION CLEANERS Filed Aug. 14, 1962 Fig.2

United States Patent 3,238,706 SUCTION CLEANERS Dale T. Kuriinski,Canton, Ohio, assignor to The Hoover Company, North Canton, Ohio, acorporation of Ohio Filed Aug. 14, 1962, Ser. No. 216,771 3 Claims. (Cl.55-374) The present invention relates to canister type suction cleanersand more particularly to a support for a dirt filter, the filter supportalso reinforcing the suction chamber cover against the force of suctionpressure created by the motor-fan unit.

An object of the invention is to provide a suction cleaner with a walledbody cooperating with an enclosure having a cover to define a suctionchamber and a support to prevent collapse of the cover against thesuction pressure developed in the suction chamber. Another object is toprovide the foregoing suction cleaner with a cover support which alsomounts a dirt filter in the suction cham- V ber. A further object is toprovide reinforcing means on .the enclosure cover to assist inwithstanding the collapsing force of the suction creating means. Stillanother object is to provide a suction cleaner with a suction chamberhaving a cover formed of inexpensive material relatively weak in astructural sense to the force of suction pressure to which it issubjected, and a dirt filter support in the suction chamber and whichalso supports the cover to reinforce the latter and prevent its collapsefrom the suction pressure. Other objects and advantages of the inventionwill become apparent from the following description and drawing,wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the cleaner showing the appearance andsuction chamber covers in open position, and

FIGURE 2 is a section along the line 22 in FIG- URE 1 with the suctionchamber cover closed and the hose rotated 90 from its normal position tomore clearly illustrate the construction.

The embodiment of the invention herein disclosed comprises a walled bodyincluding a base 11 upon which is mounted an enclosure 12 provided withan appearance cover 13. The base 11 has a bottom Wall 14 and itsvertical walls cooperate with the vertical walls of the enclosure 12 toform opposite side walls 15 and 16,

a front wall 17 and a rear wall 18. The appearance cover 13 is suitablyhinged to the rear wall 18 of the body 10. The enclosure 12 is formed ofplastic and includes a platform 21 extending integrally between thevertical walls 15, 16, 17 and 18. The enclosure 12 is attached to thebase 11 in airtight relation by a plurality of screws 19 extendingthrough the platform 21 and threaded into a peripheral flange 29. Theplatform 21 is provided with a rectangularly shaped opening 22 definedby a marginal flange 23 in which is arranged a gasket 24, as shown inFIGURE 2. A cover 25 for the opening 22 is suitably hinged on theplatform 21 adjacent the rear portion 26 of the marginal flange 23. Thecover 25 and platform 21 cooperate with the base bottom wall 14 andportions of the vertical walls 15, 16, 17 and 18 to form a suctionpressure chamber 27, and the cover 25 controls access thereto throughthe opening 22. A suitable latch 28 is provided to lock the cover 25 inclosed position.

Arranged at the rear of the suction chamber 27 is a suction creatingmotor-fan unit 29 which extends upwardly into a housing 30 formed in theplatform 21 rearwardly of the cover 25. The motor-fan unit 29 isprovided at its unshown end with a conventional suction air inlet whichcommunicates with a pressure outlet 31 connected by a conduit 32 to anexhaust opening 33 in the side wall 15 of the base 11 for discharge ofair from the pressure side of the motor-fan unit 29 to atmosphere. Aswitch 34 supported on the base front wall 17 is suitably connected tothe motor-fan unit 29 to control operation of the latter.

A dirt filtering bag 35 is disposed in the suction chamber 27 forwardlyof the motor-fan unit 29 and includes a collar 36 provided with a dirtyair inlet 37 for the bag. A support 38 for the filter bag 35 is formedof metal and includes a front end 39 from which rearwardly extends apair of spaced elongated members 40 joined adjacent their inner endswith a bag supporting arcuate shoulder 41. In order to reinforce thesupport 38 a channel 42 is formed in each of the elongated members 40and the channels 42 extend forwardly into the front end 39 of thesupport 38. The front end 39 of the filter supoprt 38 has a pair ofprojecting lugs 43 shaped in the form of hooks and each extenddownwardly through an opening 44 in the front portion 45 of the flange23 of the access opening 22 to provide a hinge whereby the rear ends 46of the support 38 may be rotated upwardly out of the suction chamber 27for removable attachment of the filter 'bag 35. The rear ends 46 of thespaced supporting members 40 each rest on a shoulder 47 provided on therear portion 26 of the access opening flange 23. Thus the bag support 38spans the access opening 22 by being supported on the front portion 45'and rear portion 26 of the flange 23 for the opening 22.

Depending from the platform 21 adjacent the rear portion 26 of themarginal flange 23 are a plurality of posts 9 which rest on the basebottom wall 14 to support the platform 21 against the collapsing forceof suction pressure developed in the chamber 27 by the motorfan unit 29.The cover 25 for the suction chamber 27 is formed of inexpensivematerial, such as plastic, and is relatively weak structurally so thatit cannot withstand the suction pressure developed within the chamber 27when the cover 25 is closed and the motor-fan unit 29 is operating. Inorder to prevent the cover 25 from collapsing it is provided with a pairof elongated reinforcing ribs 48 and a plurality of transverse ribs 49projecting from the underside 'of the cover 25. The transverse ribs 49seat on the upper surface of the support 38 and span the reinforcingchannels 42 to support the cover 25 against the suction pressure in thechamber 27.

A suction air inlet 50 is provided in the chamber cover 25 and isaligned with the bag inlet 37 when the cover 25 is in closed position. Asoft resilient gasket 51 is attachedto the inner surface of the cover toform an airtight seal between the cover inlet 50 and the bag collaropening 37. Rotatably mounted in the cover inlet 50 is the elbow 52 of asuction cleaner hose 53 only partly shown and which is provided, in theusual manner, at its opposite end with a surface cleaning nozzle. Thehose 53 when attached to the suction air inlet 50 extends through amarginal recess 54 in the body front wall 17 and when the appearancecover 13 is closed it retains the hose in the recess 54.

In order to operate the suction cleaner, the hose 53 is connected to thesuction air inlet 50 and the switch 34 is moved to its On position toenergize the motorfan unit 29 which creates suction pressure in thechamber 27 and in the hose 53 to remove dirt from the surface beingcleaned. The dirt-laden air is conveyed by the hose 53 into the bag 35which filters the dirt from the air and the latter passes through themotor-fan unit 29 and is discharged under pressure through the exhaustoutlet 33.

The suction pressure created by the motor-fan unit 29 in the suctionchamber 27 exerts a sucking force on the interior of the cover 25 andwhich force exceeds several hundred pounds in the event the cleaningtool 3 nozzle is closed to form a substantially sealed suctioncondition.

The filter support 38 mounts the bag collar 36 for air sealed connectionwith the suction air inlet 50 and also rests on the marginal flange 23of the chamber opening 22 to engage and support the chamber cover 25.The transverse ribs 49 on the cover 25 rest on the top surface 55 of thefilter support 38 to prevent collapse of the cover 25 against the forceof suction pressure. It will be noted the cover support 38 spans theentrance to the suction chamber 27 and is supported at the rear portion26 and front portion 45 of the flange 23 defining the opening 22. Thesupport 38, since it spans the chamber opening 22, reinforces a largearea of the cover 25 and thereby permits the latter to be manufacturedfrom inexpensive material to thus reduce the cost of production.

When it is desired to remove the bag 35 the chamber cover 25 is openedand the rear ends 46 of the support 38 lifted to rotate the latterclockwise on its lugs 43, as viewed in FIGURE 1, to vertical position.The bag collar 36 can then be grasped and dislodged from the arcuateshoulder 41 and removed from between the spaced elongated members 40. Anew bag may then be attached to the support 38 and the latter pivoted toits operating position wherein the rear ends 46 of the support 38 reston the shoulders 47 and the extremity of the front portion 39 rests onthe marginal flange 23.

While I have shown and described but one embodiment of the invention, itis to be understood that this embodiment is to be taken as illustrativeonly and not in a limiting sense. I do not wish to be limited to theparticular structure shown and described but to include all equivalentvariations except as limited by the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. A suction cleaner comprising: a substantially rectangular walled bodyincluding vertical side walls, a substantially rectangular enclosureoverlying said body and cooperating with said side walls of said body todefine a suction chamber, a motor-fan unit arranged in said suctionchamber and communicating therewith for creating suction pressure insaid chamber, means defining an opening in said overlying enclosure toprovide access to said suction chamber, said enclosure including as apart thereof a movably mounted suction chamber cover for said accessopening and overlying said suction chamber and having a suction airinlet adapted to receive one end of a hose, dirt filtering means havinga dirty air inlet connected with said suction air inlet to receive oneend of a hose, dirt filtering means having a dirty air inlet connectedwith said suction air inlet when said suction chamber cover is closed,support means spanning said opening beneath said suction chamber coverfor supporting said dirt filtering means in said suction chamber, saidsupport means arranged with respect to said suction chamber cover forengagement with the underside thereof to support said cover, saidenclosure in-.

eluding means removably supporting one end of said filter support meansand hinge means rotatably mounting the other end of said support meansin its said spanning relation to said opening, whereby said supportmeans may be rotated about said hinge means to gain access to theinterior of said suction chamber.

2. A suction cleaner as described in claim 1, and an exterior covermovably mounted on said enclosure and overlying said suction chambercover and said suction air inlet.

3. A suction cleaner comprising: a substantially rectangular walled bodyincluding vertical side walls, a substantially rectangular enclosureoverlying said body and cooperating with said side walls of said body todefine a suction chamber, a motor-fan unit arranged in said suctionchamber and communicating therewith for creating suction pressure insaid chamber, means defining an opening in said overlying enclosure toprovide access to said suction chamber, said enclosure including as apart thereof a movably mounted suction chamber cover for said accessopening and overlying said chamber and having a suction air inletadapted to receive one end of a hose, dirt filtering means having adirty air inlet connected with said suction air inlet when said suctionchamber cover is closed, support means in said opening beneath saidsuction chamber cover for supporting said dirty filtering means in saidsuction chamber, said support means arranged with respect to saidsuction chamber cover for engagement with the underside thereof tosupport said cover, said enclosure including means movably mounting saidsupport means in said opening, whereby said support means may be movedto gain access to the interior of said suction chamber, means definingan opening for extension of the hose from said suction air inlet to theexterior of the cleaner, and an exterior cover movably mounted on saidenclosure and overlying said suction chamber cover and the hose endconnected to said suction air inlet.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,400,558 5/1946Lindberg -373 X 2,475,815 7/1949 Burd 15323 X 2,583,949 1/1952 Kendrick15--323 2,781,103 2/1957 Daiger et a1 55--378 X 2,804,164 8/1957 Brace55--372 X 3,023,447 3/1962 Senne 55-378 X 3,089,177 5/1963Andersson-Sason 15323 3,159,862 12/1964 MacFarland 15323 FOREIGN PATENTS704,192 10/ 1930 France.

22,599 9/ 1910 Great Britain.

337,338 10/1930 Great Britain.

669,893 4/1952 Great Britain.

271,092 1/1951 Switzerland.

HARRY B. THORNTON, Primary Examiner,

1. A SUCTION CLEANER COMPRISING: A SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR WALLED BODYINCLUDING VERTICAL SIDE WALLS, A SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR ENCLOSUREOVERLYING SAID BODY AND COOPERATING WITH SAID SIDE WALLS OF SAID BODY TODEFINE A SUCTION CHAMBER, A MOTOR-FAN UNIT ARRANGED IN SAID SUCTIONCHAMBER AND COMMUNICATING THEREWITH FOR CREATING SUCTION PRESSURE INSAID CHAMBER, MEANS DEFINING AN OPENING IN SAID OVERLYING ENCLOSURE TOPROVIDE ACCESS TO SAID SUCTION CHAMBE, SAID ENCLOSURE INCLUDING AS APART THEREOF A MOVABLY MOUNTED SUCTION CHAMBER COVER FOR SAID ACESSOPENING AND OVERLYING SAID SUCTION CHAMBER AND HAVING A SUCTION AIRINLET ADAPTED TO RECEIVE ONE END OF A HOSE, DIRT FILTERING MEANS HAVINGA DIRTY AIR INLET CONNECTED WITH SAID SUCTION AIR INLET TO RECEIVE ONEEND OF A HOSE, DIRT FILTERING MEANS HAVING A DIRTY AIR INLET CONNECTEDWITH SAID SUCTION AIR INLET WHEN SAID SUCTION CHAMBER COVER IS CLOSED,SUPPORT MEANS SPANNING SAID OPENING BENEATH SAID SUCTION CHAMBER COVER